Former Putin Adviser, Russian Media Mogul Found Dead in Washington, DC Hotel

“The president has a high appreciation for Mikhail Lesin’s massive contribution to the creation of modern Russian mass media”, the Kremlin’s press service said in a statement.

Mikhail Lesin, the former head of media affairs for the Russian government who’s been accused of curtailing the country’s press freedoms, had been staying at Hotel Dupont when he was found Thursday, according to ABC News.

“Mikhail Lesin died from a heart stroke”, a family member told RIA Novosti.

From 2004 to 2009, he served as an adviser to Putin, Sputnik News, a Russian state-run agency, reported. “Please refer to the family members or the law enforcement officials”. The Metropolitan Police Department is now investigating his death, according to ABC News.

The Russian embassy told ABC News that officials were working with the United States authorities to determine the circumstances of his death.

It was unclear what Lesin was doing in Washington.

Russian Federation Today, without providing a source, suggested that Lesin had been suffering from a prolonged illness.

As press and telecommunications minister under a newly elected Putin, it was he who got the jailed oligarch Vladimir Gusinsky to sign over control of his television channel, NTV-known for its feisty critiques of the government-to the state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, in 2001.

A well-known Russian media mogul who was an ally of President Vladimir Putin was found dead in a Washington, D.C., hotel, reports said Friday, citing officials. Lesin resigned the next year, reportedly citing family reasons.

Then, in 2005, Lesin co-founded the pro-Kremlin worldwide TV station, Russia Today, which has become one of the key planks of Russian “soft power” overseas.

In 2013, Lessin was appointed to head Gazprom-Media Holding, which is the largest Russian mass media entity. “It’s been a long time since I was scared by the word propaganda”, Lesin said back in 2007.